March 01, (THEWILL) — Last Tuesday’s attack at the Edo State secretariat of African Democratic Congress, ADC, and the residence of the party’s national leader and former Edo State governor, John Odigie-Oyegun, during which former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, and other party leaders narrowly escaped harm, is dastardly and condemnable.
The perpetrators must be brought to book. The Edo State Government must ensure that such a brazen and audacious act never happens again. The security agencies must be more proactive and vigilant to prevent a further occurrence.
Meanwhile, condemnation, denials and allegations have trailed the attack. Chief Security Officer of the state, Governor Monday Okpebholo has washed his administration’s hands off the attack and traced it to internal disputes within the state chapter of the ADC. Senator Rowland Owie, a chieftain of the party in the state and ex-Chief Whip of the Senate, who admitted to a rift between him and Odigie-Oyegun dismissed any linkage of the attack to an internal crisis.
And the national body of the ADC blamed the governor for his past rhetoric in which he urged Obi to seek permission before entering Edo State for any political engagement, following a public row that attended the former Labour Party presidential candidate visitation to St Philomena Catholic Hospital, Benin- City where he donated N15 million.
As expected, civil society groups, the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, political parties and a cross section of Nigerians have condemned the attack, describing it as a violation of democracy. The attack breached one of the principles regarding peaceful assembly, association and expression of political choice. Enough said.
Remarkably, even the police have stated that there was unrest at the ADC gathering in Benin-City on that day.
While there are divergent views as to what led to the attack, there is a general consensus that the attack is an assault on democratic and constitutionally guaranteed rights of the citizenry. There is no doubt that dodgy politicians are at work. As the build- up to the 2027 general election hots up, political violence is more than likely to heighten. And nobody is spared.
We recall that at the height of electioneering in 2015, a few months to the 2015 general election, incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and his convoy were attacked on their way to some northeastern states by unknown gunmen.
Condemnable as that was then, it is more so now in face of the threat of a one-party state, worsening insecurity whereby non-state actors have been given the authorities more than sleepless nights as well as the social and economic hardship in the country. There is political tension everywhere.
Therefore, we call on the security agencies to spare no time in investigating this attack with the speed and professionalism that it deserves. Coming at a time that a new Assistant Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tunde Disa, has been appointed in acting capacity as Inspector General of Police, IGP, we urged him to use this incident as a test case of his pledge to reposition the Nigeria Police Force for more efficiency and effectiveness.
If allowed to stand with no proper investigation, arraignment and prosecution of culprits or treated shabbily because of political correctness, this attack will not only send a dangerous signal of collusion with the powers that be but also worsen and in fact promote, the climate of fear and uncertainty created by insecurity. That could put the country in a messy corner.
